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Claire Neilly of Andover, Massachusetts, has announced that she has verbally committed to the College of William & Mary for the 2024-2025 season. Neilly currently attends Andover High School, and trains year-round under coach Mike Spring at Crimson Aquatics.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Crq601QuGFQ/
Neilly will bring versatility to William & Mary, as she swims events ranging from breaststroke and IM to mid-distance freestyle. She recently raced at the New England Senior Championships (LCM), where she placed the highest in the 200 breaststroke at 4th (2:38.89). She added top-16 finishes in the 100 breast and 400 freestyle with times of 1:17.68 and 4:35.79, respectively.
She also had a strong showing earlier in the summer at the Richmond Speedo Sectionals. Highlighting her meet again was the 200 breaststroke, as she knocked over four seconds off her best to post a 2:38.36 and secure a Winter Juniors cut. She also dropped nearly two seconds in both the 100 breast (1:15.83) and 200 IM (2:23.69).
Neilly closed out her short course season this year at the New England 15-18 Age Group Championships and ISCA International Senior Cup. At the New England Championships, Neilly took 1st in the 200 breast with a best time by over two seconds (2:17.74). Her showing at the ISCA meet was highlighted by the mid-distance freestyle races, as she broke 5-minutes for the first time in the 500 (4:59.11), and took over two seconds off her best time in the 200 (1:55.11).
Top SCY Times:
- 500 free – 4:59.11
- 100 breast – 1:05.06
- 200 breast – 2:17.74
- 200 IM – 2:06.43
- 400 IM – 4:22.89
The Tribe finished 2nd as a team at the 2023 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championships. Neilly is projected to make a big impact for them at the conference level, as her current best times in the 500 free, 400 IM, and 200 breaststroke all would have advanced to finals at this year’s meet.
The event Neilly is projected to finish the highest in is the 400 IM, as her best time would have placed 4th overall. William & Mary had no one competing in the A-final of that event, with their top finisher being Devin Genderson at 11th (4:26.99). Grace Tramack (4:26.99), Peyton Proffitt (4:27.29), and Sarah Rice (4:32.05) joined her in the B-final, finishing 12th, 13th, and 15th, respectively.
Neilly joins Healey Morgan, Tess Lankford, Caroline Scharff, Carly Frank, and Grace McCardle in the Tribe’s class of 2028.
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